A simple hunch by a retired police sergeant led to the arrest of a suspect in an 18-year-old unsolved attempted murder case in El Paso.

Police Chief Greg Allen, along with Lt. Mike Zamora and Detective Mike Aman of the Police Department's Crimes Against Persons Section, announced the arrest of Ramon Ortega-Herrera during a news conference Tuesday afternoon.

Ortega-Herrera is suspected in the brutal beating and sexual assault of a woman during a home invasion on Aug. 24, 1994.

Allen said Ortega-Herrera, who is in federal custody in South Carolina on a charge of illegal re-entry, said investigators received a call in November 2011 from a retired police sergeant, Miriam Bogle, after an unrelated but similar attack on a woman in Austin.

REPORTER

Adriana M. Chávez

Bogle noticed the two cases had similar circumstances, but detectives quickly determined the two cases were unrelated. However, Crimes Against Persons' continued investigating and found DNA evidence allegedly tying Ortega-Herrera to the 1994 assault.

"She saw something that reminded her of a case that was unresolved," said police spokes man Sgt. Chris Mears. "Based on the news coverage (of the Austin case), she saw some similarities (between the two crimes) but we quickly determined this case is unrelated to the case in Austin."

Bogle, who now works for the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas' branch in Downtown El Paso, could not be reached on Tuesday.

Allen said Aman, who oversees the Cold Case Unit, reviewed the case and found there was still DNA evidence in cold storage.

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"Once we identified the potential suspect, we realized he was about to be deported," Aman said. "The deportation had been scheduled to happen this week."

Aman said Ortega-Herrera was set to be deported to his home state, Chihuahua.

Police said the woman was beaten on the head during the attack and nearly died. Zamora said she is aware of Ortega-Herrera's arrest.

"We have been in contact with the victim," Zamora said.

Zamora also said detectives will be looking at other unsolved cases involving similar attacks and submitting any evidence for DNA analysis.

Aman said the Cold Case Unit is still trying to solve about 70 similar unsolved cases.

"We always look to see if any physical evidence is still available," Aman said. "I wasn't immediately optimistic (at the DNA evidence in the 1994 case), but once I realized the condition of the evidence we had, I became optimistic."

Federal court records show Ortega-Herrera was initially deported from the U.S. in January 2005 but was found living in Nevada three years later. He pleaded guilty to the illegal re-entry charge in June 2009 and was sentenced to five years in prison.

Aman called the potential closure of an 18-year-old cold case "very exciting. It's a challenge, but when it leads to a successful conclusion, that's what we work for."

Adriana M. Chávez may be reached at achavez@elpasotimes.com; 546-6117. Follow her on Twitter @AChavezEPTimes